When The ILLZ approached me about the “In Between Video series”, I was struck by the simple brilliance of it all. Releasing video and song simultaneously, as one piece of content, was a bold and strong move.

On August 17, 2010 ILLZ along with Hot Mop Films and Kristopher Rey-Talley will be releasing a unique project entitled the “In Between Video Series” The project will feature new songs from The ILLZ, which will all be released visually in the next upcoming weeks. The main goal of this project is to prove that simplicity truly is the highest form of sophistication.

We have the smooth motherfuckin ILLZ and we have the ILLZ as “The Dude”. Talented, well spoken and educated, but also has the ability to kick it and not give a shit. Its a low fi concept done in a creative and hopefully, entertaining way. And watch out for part three, as this series grows deeper and the style conquers another bit of cinematic history.

There’s something effortless and earnest about the video and that’s what I love. Even the performance shot was nailed in one take and I have no qualms about it, as it looks damn great.

He gave me a pound “Let’s do it.” Nahgee (good friend, business partner, and HotMop filmer) walked in with the second camera and we got two angles going at the same time. IN 20 minutes we walked back out to The ILLZ soundcheck and that was it, the “Persistence” video was a wrap. You know, some times you live for the future but to get there you need to live in the present. I am truly blessed to be around hard working, creative people.

With Antonio Tosca we wanted to create this character that The ILLZ embodies but also is a look that is opposite to what “Hip Hop” portrays. What we set out to do was flip the image of Hip Hop, I shot performances just like in the 90’s but rather it be grimy and in dark locations. We went to the west village and walked around. We let the city inspire us and dictate the shots and the mood we were feeling at the time.